Trump said Iran initially offered to let U.S. forces accompany them to recover the highly enriched uranium (HEU) stockpile buried beneath the rubble of Isfahan's nuclear complex, then reversed course; Netanyahu separately told 60 Minutes "you go in, and you take it out," and Axios confirmed Israel is actively lobbying Trump for a special forces mission while Trump remains hesitant given the extreme operational risk.

Peace talks are on "massive life support" after Trump rejected Iran's latest offer as a "piece of garbage"; Iran's stated conditions include war damages, U.S. recognition of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, and the lifting of all sanctions, with no mention of the uranium, which remains the central American demand.

CENTCOM has now redirected 62 ships and disabled four attempting to breach the naval blockade; two commercial vessels were struck by drones in the Persian Gulf over the weekend; the UAE reported two more Iranian drone attacks on its territory; and Trump told Fox News he is considering reconstituting Project Freedom as part of a broader military operation.

The Navy announced three new portfolio acquisition executives (PAEs) on Monday: PAE Aviation under Vice Adm. John Dougherty, PAE Mission Systems under Jim Day, and PAE Munitions under Paul Mann, marking the latest phase of Pentagon-wide acquisition reform following earlier PAE stands-up for robotics and autonomous systems, maritime, undersea, and Marine Corps portfolios.

The shift from the traditional program executive officer (PEO) structure grants each PAE direct authority over technical, contracting, and sustainment functions that were previously distributed across the Navy's systems commands (SYSCOMs), a consolidation designed to cut overhead and compress delivery timelines for the warfighter.

Separately, the Navy released its FY27 Shipbuilding Plan on Monday, calling for $65.8 billion in shipbuilding funding in FY27 and targeting a combined fleet of 450 ships, including battle force ships, auxiliary vessels, and unmanned platforms, by 2031 under President Trump's Golden Fleet Initiative.

Kodiak AI and General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) announced a formal strategic collaboration on May 7 to develop autonomous ground vehicles (AGVs) for defense, building on their earlier Leonidas AGV prototype, a commercial Ford F-600 truck outfitted with Kodiak's AI-powered Kodiak Driver system and Epirus' Leonidas high-power microwave (HPM) counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) platform, with GDLS serving as lead systems integrator.

Kodiak provides its Physical AI-powered virtual driver, which is already operating driverlessly in commercial long-haul trucking, while GDLS leads vehicle integration, power systems, communications, and ruggedized platform development; the partnership directly reflects the Pentagon's "commercial-first" acquisition strategy, designed to reduce costs and accelerate fielding timelines by adapting proven commercial platforms.

The two companies plan to pursue upcoming U.S. Army and international AGV opportunities together, positioning the Kodiak Driver as a scalable autonomy solution applicable across multiple military vehicle types and mission sets, including logistics resupply, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), and maneuver operations in contested environments.

American investment in Ukrainian defense companies is accelerating fast, with AI drone-swarm software firm Swarmer rising 700 percent on its first day of public trading; a Ukraine-UK team (SkyFall and SkyCutter) won the opening round of the Pentagon's Drone Dominance competition, a program that could grow to $54 billion under the White House's FY27 budget proposal, with multiple other Ukrainian firms on the leaderboard.

U.S. export-control law, specifically ITAR (the International Traffic in Arms Regulations), is creating months-long delays for Ukrainian companies trying to cycle battlefield-refined technology between their U.S. facilities and the front line; Airlogix, which is developing drones through a U.S.-German joint venture, told attendees at the Special Competitive Studies Project AI+ Expo that ITAR approvals take four months while its engineering iteration cycle runs in weeks.

Advocates at the expo called for granting Ukraine an expedited ITAR status comparable to a major non-NATO ally designation, arguing that the current framework slows the Pentagon's ability to acquire best-in-class drone and counter-drone technology precisely when demand is surging; the Pentagon's undersecretary for research and engineering signaled enthusiasm for Ukrainian-developed capabilities but stopped short of committing to regulatory reform.

BWX Technologies (BWXT) announced two contracts totaling more than $1.4 billion: a $1.285 billion base contract for long-lead material procurement for the U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, structured as the first of five potential annual task orders through 2030, and a $165 million contract for Ford-class aircraft carrier reactor system components and manufacturing work.

The $165 million contract covers component manufacturing at BWXT facilities in Barberton, Ohio, and Mount Vernon, Indiana; under a prior contract, the company recently shipped four Ford-class steam generators from its Mount Vernon facility to Hampton Roads, Virginia shipyards in support of the USS Doris Miller (CVN 81), the Navy's newest Gerald R. Ford-class carrier.

BWXT has delivered more than 420 nuclear reactor cores to the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program across a 70-year relationship with the Navy, and the latest awards extend that work through at least 2030 as the service accelerates its submarine and carrier construction posture under the Golden Fleet Initiative.

Air Force holding industry days for B-52 CERP (Commercial Engine Replacement Program) support equipment as it prepares to modify two B-52Hs with Rolls-Royce F130 engines later this year — Read More

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Raytheon wins SeaRAM (Rolling Airframe Missile) contract for Australia's Improved Mogami-class frigates being constructed by Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries; deliveries expected to begin late 2028 — Read More

Iran warns the UK and France that deploying warships near the Strait of Hormuz would draw an "immediate and decisive response" as HMS Dragon heads to the region for a potential multinational freedom-of-navigation mission — Read More

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SOUTHCOM kills 2 in the 58th strike of Operation Southern Spear after hitting a suspected narco boat in the Eastern Pacific on May 8; one survivor was handed off to the U.S. Coast Guard — Read More

Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) Director Jay Dryer publicly outlines the office's $1.7B FY26 budget — Read More

Pentagon's "Defense Patent Holiday" pilot program draws 52 applications for free two-year commercial evaluation licenses — Read More

Turkey's STM debuts Kuzgun loitering munition (1,000km range), TOGAN-M mini ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) drone, and Tengiz heavy autonomous underwater vehicle with torpedo launch capability at SAHA 2026 — Read More

Taiwan's parliament passes a pared-back $25B supplementary defense budget covering two U.S. arms packages — Read More

Latvian defense minister Andris Sprūds resigns after military drone detection systems failed to flag a Russian electronic-warfare-diverted Ukrainian drone that crashed into an oil storage facility in Rēzekne — Read More

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